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Graduate vacancies will rise by 12% in 2015

Posted: 22.06.2015

Graduate vacancies will rise by 12% in 2015, the Association of Graduate Recruiters' (AGR) Winter Survey has predicted28/01/2015

According to AGR, this year's job market will enjoy its biggest increase since 2007 thanks to employers' confidence in the UK economy. The highest growth sectors will be IT and telecoms (27%), the public sector (23%), construction (22%) and engineering (20%).

The survey also revealed that:

there were an estimated 21,682 graduate vacancies in 2013/14, with 1,422 of these going unfilled;

27% of graduate roles in 2013/14 were filled by people who had previously worked for the same employer;

the largest recruiting sectors in 2013/14 were accountancy and professional services (22%), the public sector (13%) and engineering (13%).

Stephen Isherwood, chief executive of the AGR, said that the survey proved the importance of work experience. 'Graduate vacancies continue to grow year-on-year,' he said. 'Candidates that understand the world of work, understand their own skills and can translate that into a compelling proposition are much more likely to be successful.'

Charlie Ball, head of higher education intelligence at Prospects, welcomed the findings and advised jobseekers to ensure that they make considered applications and continue to seek careers guidance. 'This year's graduates can be confident that there are more opportunities available and that they can expect better job prospects than the previous cohort,' he added. 'These findings allow us to be optimistic about the year ahead.'